Human Resource Development: Words of Wisdom

Human Resource Development
Words of wisdom
‘A commitment to learning at work is as much a statement of values, an
assertion of the kind of society that people want to live in, as an economic
imperative. It implies a preference for a more inclusive society.’
‘Despite the fact that most employers appear to support the abstract
concept of lifelong learning, it is also clear from the same study that the
majority of employers were not enthusiastic about being encouraged or
assisted in supporting greater other or general training.’
‘One of the greatest business challenges is to find some models for how a
whole organization can learn.’
Web support material to accompany Human Resource Management: Theory and practice, Third Edition
© John Bratton and Jeffrey Gold 2003, published by Palgrave Macmillan
Human resource development (HRD) comprises the procedures and processes

that purposely seek to provide learning activities to enhance the skills,
knowledge and capabilities of people, teams and the organization so that there is
a change in action to achieve the desired outcomes.
Strategy and HRD
Integrating HRD into strategy requires the development of the senior
management team so that the dilemma to be resolved between control
through planning and emergent learning becomes an acceptable form of
their thinking.
An orthodox view makes strategic HRD entirely responsive to organizational

strategy. Alternative versions provide for a more reciprocal and proactive
influence on organizational strategy.
Even when strategy is given full consideration, there are a number of

possible paths that may be taken.
Choosing a path other than skills and learning lies at the core of a (UK)
problem of low-priced and low-quality production and a low demand for
skills.
Establishing HRD
A principle assumption underpinning HRD is that, through the provision of
learning activities in whatever form, employees are worth investing in, and there
will be benefits for the individual involved, the organization, the economy and
society as a whole.
Human capital theory: people’s performance and the results achieved can be
considered as a return on investment and assessed in terms of costs and benefits.
Approaches to HRD:
Voluntarist approach
Interventionist approach
Establishing HRD: the machine metaphor
Establishing HRD
The following implications can be drawn from the ‘machine’ metaphor:
Attitudes are important
Individuals have responsibility for their parts
Learning is based on a deficit model
Training closes a gap
Little place for feelings
(Marsick & Watkins 1999)
Developmental humanistic approach
Establishing HRD
Developmental humanistic approach
Based on the personal empowerment of the workforce through workplace

learning.
The key argument is that individuals are the most productive when they
feel that their work is personally meaningful. Learning provides a way of
coping with change and fulfilling ambitions.
HRD can therefore move beyond the technical limitations of training and
embrace key notions of learning and development implied in such
concepts as the learning organization and lifelong learning.
Establishing HRD
Skills and commitment
If HRD can have a positive effect on profitablility, attract good-quality staff,

indicate the values of the firm and engender commitment in times of
change, why is there still a low commitment to HRD in the UK?
Many employers underestimate or do not recognize skills gaps, or do not

consider future needs. Training is often concentrated among managers
and senior staff, whereas unskilled workers receive very little.
The UK’s failure to educate and train its workforce to the same level as its
competitors may be responsible for its relatively poor economic
performance.
Establishing HRD
Establishing HRD
The demand for skills
To ensure a high demand for skills, action is required principally from

within organizations. Many organizations do not however regard HRD as
being central to their requirements.
If tasks are designed as requiring a high level of skill, this will trigger a
requirement for a highly-trained workforce and for an investment in that
workforce if skilled labour is not available in the external market.
The presence of skilled employees can contribute to the interpretation by

managers that any changes can be dealt with by their employees, so they
are able to take advantage of any benefits that the changes may bring.
Establishing HRD
The Learning Movement
The recommendations, ideas and exhortations relating to HRD and learning

at work, plus the structures to support these, are features of the learning
movement.
Even though the learning movement provides the resources to support HRD,
decision-makers still have a choice and can remain oblivious to pressures for
more HRD, or sceptical about the benefits.
Pursuing a policy of HRD has to reflect the strategy of senior managers who
are able to view their organizations in a variety of ways.
Particularly important are the actions of managers at all levels in supporting

learning and turning an aversion to risk-taking into opportunity-spotting.
Implementing HRD
Who should take responsibility?
How should needs be identified?
Whose interests should they serve?
What activities should be used?
Will they ‘add value’?
How does HRD relate to business goals?
Implementing HRD
A systematic training model
Implementing HRD
A systematic training model
Essential prerequisites for any effort to implement a training model are a

consideration of budgets, attitudes, abilities and culture or climate.
A key requirement of training activity is that it is relevant and reflects the

real world.
Bramley (1989) advocated turning the four stages of the training model into
a cycle in which evaluation occurs throughout the process, with an
emphasis on managers taking responsibility for the transfer of learning.
In this way the model is made effective rather than mechanistically

efficient.
Implementing HRD
An Integrated Approach
An integrated approach highlights key interdependencies within

organizations, such as the link to strategy, the role of line managers and the
emergent features of learning.
A policy of HRD has to be translated into the structures, systems and

processes that might be called a learning climate.
At the heart of the learning climate lies the line manager-employee

relationship.
A number of roles have been associated with managers to support this,

including coaching and mentoring.
Implementing HRD
Implementing HRD
Implementing HRD
Workplace Learning
Learning in the workplace is seen as the crucial contributor to dealing with
change, coping with uncertainty and complexity in the environment and
creating opportunities for sustainable competitive advantage.
Workplace learning casts a whole organization as a unit of learning,

allowing managers to take a strategic view and others to think in terms of
how their learning impacts on the wider context.
Key ideas for application include the learning organization and

organization learning, knowledge management and production and e-
learning.
Workplace Learning
According to Senge (1990), the following disciplines should form the

foundation of the learning organization:
Personal mastery
A shared vision
Team learning
Mental models
Systems thinking
Workplace Learning
Understanding learning
Workplace Learning
Understanding learning
Workplace Learning
Organizational learning
Cultural view: organization learning is mostly informal and

improvisational, ‘situated’ in a particular context and is a function of
activity that occurs at a local level within communities of practice.
Likely to be at variance from what managers want to happen.
Knowledge Management
Knowledge management is the management of the information,

knowledge and experience available to an organization – its creation,
capture, storage, availability and utilization – in order that organizational
activities build on what is already known, and extend it further. (Mayo
1998)
Human capital accumulation has therefore become one of the new

reasons for an investment in HRD and a contrast to the previous narrow
conceptions implied by human capital theory.
Knowledge Management
E-learning
One area in which the technology revolution is having a massive impact

in HRD is the provision of e-learning.
E-learning is learning that is delivered, enabled or mediated by electronic

technology for the explicit purpose of training in organizations. It does
not include stand-alone technology-based training such as the use of
CD-ROMs in isolation. (Sloman & Reynolds 2002)

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Human Resource Development

Human resource development (HRD) comprises the procedures and processes

An orthodox view makes strategic HRD entirely responsive to organizational

Even when strategy is given full consideration, there are a number of

The following implications can be drawn from the ‘machine’ metaphor:

Attitudes are important

Individuals have responsibility for their parts

Learning is based on a deficit model

Training closes a gap

Little place for feelings

(Marsick & Watkins 1999)

Based on the personal empowerment of the workforce through workplace

If HRD can have a positive effect on profitablility, attract good-quality staff,

Many employers underestimate or do not recognize skills gaps, or do not

The demand for skills

To ensure a high demand for skills, action is required principally from

The presence of skilled employees can contribute to the interpretation by

The recommendations, ideas and exhortations relating to HRD and learning

Particularly important are the actions of managers at all levels in supporting

How should needs be identified?

Whose interests should they serve?

What activities should be used?

Will they ‘add value’?

How does HRD relate to business goals?

Essential prerequisites for any effort to implement a training model are a

A key requirement of training activity is that it is relevant and reflects the

In this way the model is made effective rather than mechanistically

An integrated approach highlights key interdependencies within

A policy of HRD has to be translated into the structures, systems and

At the heart of the learning climate lies the line manager-employee

A number of roles have been associated with managers to support this,

Workplace learning casts a whole organization as a unit of learning,

Key ideas for application include the learning organization and

According to Senge (1990), the following disciplines should form the

Cultural view: organization learning is mostly informal and

Likely to be at variance from what managers want to happen.

Knowledge management is the management of the information,

Human capital accumulation has therefore become one of the new

One area in which the technology revolution is having a massive impact

E-learning is learning that is delivered, enabled or mediated by electronic

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